SDCC 2016: Hall H on Sunday – Sherlock

So, Sunday for San Diego Comic-Con had arrived, the final day in a whirlwind of 4+ days of Con-ness. Thankfully, we got back to the hotel reasonably early Saturday night after the Marvel Studios panel, and we did not have to be up too early Sunday morning. We slept till about 7:45am, got up, loaded up the vehicle with everything, checked out of the hotel, and headed down to Horton Plaza one last time for 2016.

Once we parked at Horton Plaza, we made our way towards the Convention Center. We decided to stop for breakfast on the way though. There was a restaurant that had themed itself after the upcoming Syfy show Incorporated, so we decided to check it out. Last year this restaurant themed itself as The Expanse, and it was a lot of fun.

This year was interesting, as the restaurant was themed again. There was a VR attraction in the restaurant as well, but unfortunately it did not open until 10am, and we were on our way out at about 9:30am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got in line for Hall H, which was essentially a walk in. We were in line in the chutes a bit before 10am, and let in several minutes later. We migrated to our usual spot, in the back, right corner of the room. The room was getting pretty full, but it was not quite at capacity.

Sherlock Panel – Moderated by Chris Hardwick

Chris Hardwick moderated the Sherlock panel. He introduces Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, and producers Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, and Sue Vertue. They come out to a roar from the audience, especially Benedict Cumberbatch.

Hardwick begins the panel by asking about another cast member for Sherlock, and shows us a quick clip of the cast not currently in attendance playing Clue for the rights to come to Comic-Con. After the clip, Amanda Abbington comes out to join the panel.

Then, Mark Gatiss and Benedict talk about filming Season 4, which has been going on right around this time, and when they get back to England, they will be working on a big scene for Sherlock, according to Mark Gatiss.

Chris Hardwick asks the panel how they can continue to make each season/episode of Sherlock better, and Steven Moffat jokingly says that they don’t make very many, so it isn’t very difficult. Hardwick then asks how they are able to keep coming back to Sherlock, when there is such a large break between the seasons, and Cumberbatch talks about how it is great for their characters to evolve through the seasons.

Mark Gatiss elaborates more about putting their characters through an “emotional ringer”, and again talks about evolving the characters. Moffat chimes in saying that Sherlock has to evolve; with Sherlock being a genius it would be weird having him be the same person, not learning anything as the show progresses. One thing that Moffat will not change is Sherlock’s coat, and the audience “woos”. Moffat says that the wooing solves a long-standing argument for him–Sue Vertue wants to change the coat, but Moffat wants to keep it the same.

Somehow the conversation devolves into Cumberbatch doing a Trump impersonation, which was really funny. Amanda talks about how overwhelming it was for the first season, but looks forward to seeing Season 4.

We then get a sneak peek at the trailer for Season 4. This was released to the public as well, so you can see it here:

 

The trailer looks very interesting. It looks like we have Sherlock, struggling mentally and emotionally over Moriarty, who may be fictional, or real. It looks like the show could be very action packed as well. We also see what looks to be a medical procedure being performed on Sherlock, initiated by his brother perhaps…?

But back to the panel, Chris Hardwick asks about how they mix comedy and drama in the making of Sherlock. Gatiss says that the two shouldn’t be so separate, and there should be a good blend of the two in Sherlock.

Cumberbatch is asked about how he approaches his parts. He says there is not much improv lines for his character, but it is all in the way the lines are delivered, he feels, that makes the character.

Then it comes out that it was Benedict Cumberbatch’s birthday last week, and that causes Hardwick and the Hall H crowd to start the Happy Birthday song.

Moving on to other cast members, Amanda Abbington discusses her character, Mary Morstan, and her character’s secret, being an assassin. She also talks about the dangerous and sassy role she gets to play in the show. Amanda also discusses that she would have played her character differently had she known about this secret sooner, as she would have played it more with an edge, which might be the exact reason she wasn’t told. Abbington gushes about how she feels the characters are flawed in the show, which makes the show interesting. Hardwick then asks Moffat about the story arc for Amanda’s character, and Moffat reveals that it was planned from the beginning of the season. Moffat also talks about how Amanda has portrayed hints of Mary’s secret throughout the show’s run so far, with her excellent memory, and a few other skills that have popped up with her character. Gatiss also talks about not telling Amanda because then she wouldn’t have “tells” when playing the character.

Steven Moffat also talks about his lying nature when talking about his shows, telling Hardwick that he has to lie sometimes to fool the audience, to where they never know when to trust him.

Moving back to Benedict Cumberbatch, he talks about the Christmas special, which took place in Victorian times. He talks about how his character was much more “crisp” and “severe” in the Victorian Era. Mark Gatiss remarks that during the conversation at the end of the episode between Sherlock and Watson, they discus the “future” which Gatiss reveals was a way to toy with the audience–saying that perhaps the modern times Sherlock is just a fevered dream of Victorian Sherlock…? Hmm… But they also talk about Mycroft’s differences in Victorian times and modern times in the show.

Hardwick then asks about Season 4, and asks about Mycroft’s love for Sherlock. Gatiss and Moffat talk about how Mycroft does care, and reminds us that Mycroft hired Watson to keep an eye on Sherlock. The two seem to agree that despite their relationship, Mycroft and Sherlock do love each other.

Amanda then talks about her character’s pregnancy, and says that it will “feature” this season. She also says to not work with babies–as she was vomited on several times. Cumberbatch also talks about having a baby, and how they have to work with their “schedule.”

The panel then moves on to audience questions.

The panelists are asked about working with family members on set. Cumberbatch’s parents play Sherlock’s parents, and he says they do great at their job, and he is “thrilled” they are there. He also talks about how sometimes his mother will have a brain-hiccup, calling him Sherlock outside of work.

The next question is asking the difference between filming the Victorian episode versus the modern day episodes. The panelists seem to agree that it was more expensive, took longer, but it was a “joy”. They also talk about how well the sets were done, which brought what was in their head to life.

Hardwick then asks if Moriarty is a part of Sherlock’s coping for his drug addiction. Cumberbatch seems to agree, but also says he is one of the things that is dangerous to Sherlock.

The next questioner says that IGN said that Season 4 would be the last one, but Moffat says that was never said, and that they don’t yet really know what will happen next. Moffat and Gatiss also shoot barbs at the press, saying they often print whatever they want, and want to tell them to say whatever they want rather than even show up to the interview.

Then Cumberbatch is asked how Doctor Strange and Sherlock crossover, and Cumberbatch says that they are pretty different characters. Cumberbatch says that Strange is American, and has emotional attachments, while Sherlock is British and less attached to humanity. Also as a follow up, Hardwick asks if Sherlock would want to connect with people. Cumberbatch seems to think that Sherlock knows he has to be a part of the world in order for him to do what he is doing, better. Cumberbatch also mentions how Watson is Sherlock’s friend that brings him into humanity.

The last questioner asks the actors what their first line of Season 4 was. This causes a discussion between Gatiss and Moffat to figure out what the line was and if it gives anything away. Amanda says that she makes a hand gesture. But unfortunately, no script leaks were given by Moffat and Gatiss–that or they couldn’t really remember what it was. It is not really clear.

Then finishing the panel, Moffat, Gatiss, and the cast decide to provide some words to give clues about Season 4? I wasn’t quite sure what they meant by this, but they all seemed to be names:

The first word was: Thatcher.
The second: Schmidt.
The third: Sherrinford.

Stay tuned for our recap and photo gallery of the Supernatural panel, which was up next in Hall H!

You can view more photos from the Incorporated Cafe and the Sherlock panel below: